You Can
by Sayoko Bizen
Summary: Beach. Nobles. Campfires. This time, it will be for real. Based on David Archuleta's "You Can".


**You Can**

By Sayoko Bizen

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Disclaimer: Written for fun and not for profit. _**Kyou Kara Maou**_ is not mine and neither is David Archuleta's "_**You Can**_", but this story is.

A/N: Enjoy.

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"I don't remember asking the whole lot of the aristocracy to come along," Yuuri complained as he craned his neck to catch a glimpse of his fiance among the crowds of beach-ready nobles. How had it turned out like this?

"Lord von Bielefeld!" cried a beautiful brunette woman skimpily clad in Shin Makoku's version of a swimsuit.

"He's so beautiful, especially in this moonlight!" exclaimed another, a blue-eyed beauty in a red bikini who'd scowled after she took a sip from her drink. She had mistakenly put her straw in her bottle of lotion, so distracted was she.

Girls flocked around Wolfram trying to get his attention, and even some men were bold enough to flirt with the former prince.

"I'm sorry. I'm here with my family," Wolfram told them as he refused all offers for companionship. He did not say "my mother and my brothers" – but "my family". That meant Greta and him.

From Yuuri's elevated point of view in the lifeguard-chair, he felt his heart swell with a mix of pride and gratitude. 'Yeah, you tell 'em, Wolf!' he thought as the blond let the words fall over and over from his lips. He's yours, a part of Yuuri said, and as he thought it, he found that for quite some time now, nothing had excited him more.

The plan had been for this picnic to be a small family gathering and a good opportunity for Yuuri to tell Wolfram how he felt, but in the course of the evening he'd gotten sidetracked into playing lifeguard for Greta and Beatrice. He later found out that the girls were more landlovers than water babies. Now only T-zou and Murata floated happily out in the surf, not really paying him mind. Everyone else was vying for Wolfram's attention. And he was still stuck in the lifeguard chair. Yuuri glared angrily at the bestial Sage and his sheep.

"We'll be fine, Shibuya! Go on back!" Murata cried out to him, as if he'd sensed the king's displeasure. The sage's strap-on sportsglasses glinted mysteriously in the scarce illumination, but Yuuri found he didn't want to know what the other Japanese boy had planned for the ovine animal. He shook his head free of disturbing mental images and went to join his daughter and his fiance.

As Yuuri made his way to them, to his left he saw a very jaw-droppingly sexy Lady Celi surrounded by lords from all over. Said lords could barely hide their 'excitement', each of them wearing only swimming trunks. Yep, his future mother-in-law in the stringy barely-there bikini was the most probable reason why his quiet 'proposal dinner by the beach' had become a circus. Oh well… it wasn't as if there was anything he could do about it now without making her suitors indignant and starting a war. He'd just have to tell Wolfram as planned. Tonight. With all these strangers watching. The thought scared him to death. I can do this, Yuuri thought. If I don't, I'll need another five _years_ to get enough guts to propose to him and… and… I'm the Maou! I'll be damned if I let someone take him from me! I… I want this piece of heaven for myself. Yuuri could just see Wolfram holding open the gates…

Yuuri was still a long ways off, about a few meters shy of them, when he saw trunks-wearing Wolfram being handed something wrapped, or rather encased, in royal black. Probably a shirt, the young king thought. Wolfram never liked being in a state of undress in front of other people. But black? Wolfram also knows not to wear black YET, that comes later, Yuuri mused with an inordinate amount of self-satisfaction. But THEN again, why such a big case for a shirt? Curious, Yuuri found himself walking towards the party faster, his head hurting just a bit for doing all that thinking.

After careful inspection of the case, Wolfram unhooked the latches, reached in, and took out what looked every inch like a guitar -- an elegant yellow one with a gryphonturtle-shell soundguard. The two girls' eyes lit up instantly. Apparently, this was something they'd enjoyed before. Yuuri stopped at a distance behind the group and seated himself near another cluster of young noblemen and women, who, after noticing the monarch, immediately moved their picnic to surround him. Yuuri nodded his acknowledgment and smiled at them, even managing to make small talk, but his eyes were trained on the blond boy with the guitar, their human daughter, and his daughter's friend as they sang children's songs, nursery rhymes, and even action songs complete with changing voices from the guitarist. Yuuri found himself fascinated, and the chatter and laughter of the others around him dissolved into the crash of the waves behind him.

After a few minutes, Yozak joined the group and Yuuri, seeing the blond's discomfiture, bit back a growl. A handful of sand found itself finer in the king's grasp. 'Tell me what Yozak is saying, Wolfram,' the boy king thought, half-expecting Wolfram's heart to reply. C'mon mental telepathy, if you're in there, now's a good time to let me know!

Yuuri was about to excuse himself from his group when he found he was alone; Conrad was beside him and the chatter had ceased. Conrad had somehow (gently?) sent the others away. Without the chatter of the group, Yuuri could actually hear what was going on with the group across from them. On his godfather's face was a reassuring smile; on Yuuri's shoulder was a steadying hand. Conrad nodded and, after Yuuri, also fixed his gaze on the motley crew before them.

Yozak was still laughing heartily at the uncomfortable blond princeling. In his best old-man voice, he whined, "Come on, kid! I'm an old man! You'll have to play something mellow. My old bones can't possibly keep up with you young ones singing 'There Goes The Bee Bear to the Sand Bear Cave'!" The spy's antics had the two princesses giggling madly.

Wolfram raised a dark gold brow and crossed his arms as best he could around the guitar. "You are NOT! You could lift me, Yuuri, my daughter and even Beatrice all at the same time and toss us all to Bandarbia if you wanted to!"

Greta stood up from her place beside Wolfram and hugged him around his neck. "Come on, Wolfram! I want a break! I'll be too tired to watch the fireworks Yuuri brought from Japan if we keep doing campfire songs!" She coupled her little-girl whining voice with a cute pout. In the darkness, the young double-black felt his smile widen. Countdown had begun. Three.... Two... One.

Wolfram sighed in defeat. "Okay… what would you like?"

Greta's eyes positively shimmered. "Play that song you made up! The one you sing when Yuuri is away!" Greta demanded good-naturedly, her arms still around her father.

Yuuri mumbled "Which one? 'Wimpy Wimp Wimp'?" Conrad choked back a laugh.

Wolfram chuckled and tried to tickle his daughter as best he could, his arms around his guitar. "Which one? 'Wimpy Wimp Wimp'?"

Strike!!! Yuuri was bowled over. There's REALLY a 'Wimpy Wimp Wimp' song?!

The little girl with eyes of licorice and hair of spun chocolate managed to look sweet and slighted at once. "No, not that one."

The Japanese boy heard his godfather pretend to clear his throat. Emphasis on pretend. The voice in Yuuri's head sounded pained. Why, Wolfram? Why?!

Beatrice, sweet little Beatrice finally spoke. "Your Excellency, we'd love to hear the other one again…"

Yuuri felt about ready to cry. There's a song worse than Wimpy Wimp Wimp?

Wolfram held onto his guitar tighter, even as Greta started planting butterfly kisses on his cheek. "I don't know… He's here somewhere, and I don't want to upset him."

It_ IS_ worse than Wimpy Wimp Wimp! Wolfram, how could you?

"This I wanna hear," commented the red-headed spy. "Is it a good one?" he asked Beatrice.

Beatrice clasped her hands over her heart and sighed. "Oh yes! You should hear it, Yozak!"

Yozak stretched out his arms and welcomed Beatrice into them in a hug, seating her on his crossed legs over the sand. The flame-haired scout then joined the two girls in giving the flaxen-haired boy puppy-dog looks. Yuuri watched them, thunderstruck. Hey! That's MY trick!!!

"Alright." Wolfram knew when he was beaten.

Yuuri was so distracted worrying about his patented groveling-face being used without license that he almost didn't notice as the first strains of Wolfram's song floated in the air, silencing everyone on the beach with their beauty. It was a simple but heartbreaking melody, the sound of true, if painful, love.

_Hmm…_

_Take me where I've never been,_

_Help me on my feet again._

_Show me that good things_

_come to those who wait…_

Wolfram closed his eyes and let his hands roam smoothly over the instrument. An angel with a guitar, singing a sad song in the moonlight. Yuuri looked around and saw a lot of people were starting to sit down and listen.

_Tell me I'm not on my own._

_Tell me I won't be alone._

_Tell me what I'm feeling isn't some mistake…_

'_Cause if anyone can make me fall in love, You can._

What was he thinking when he wrote this? Yuuri wondered. 'I think you know.' said a still, small voice. Yuuri chose to ignore it.

Back at the campfire, "Damn." was all Yozak could say, his face the picture of awe. For a moment, he must have known what it was to be Conrad.

It was all Yuuri could do not to stand up and reach out to pull the Nordic-looking prince into his arms. The young king looked up at Conrad who suddenly seemed to have found the stars fascinating. An escaped tear that rolled down the Rutenberg Lion's cheek told Yuuri all.

_Save me from myself, you can._

_And it's you and no one else._

The young nobles who'd tried unsuccessfully to curry favor with Wolfram now looked at Yuuri as if he was the luckiest man ever born.

_If I could wish upon tomorrow,_

_Tonight would never end._

_If you asked me, I would follow._

_But for now, I just pretend._

'_Cause if anyone can make me fall in love, You can._

Celi stood up, left her crowd of admirers, and sat down on the sand beside Conrad, paying Yuuri no mind. She stared down any man who tried to follow. Yuuri regarded her thoughtfully as she sat primly and looked on at her progeny, her head resting on Conrad's chest. Yuuri had never been the most observant person, but he knew Celi's thoughts were in another time, another place. He guessed from the way she looked at Conrad that she was probably thinking of Dan Hiri. It creeped him out a bit when Conrad put his arm around her and held her close, but on some level, the Japanese boy understood.

_Baby, when you look at me,_

_Tell me, what do you see?_

_Are these the eyes of_

_someone you could love?_

The boy king closed his eyes. His body answered for him. His hands shook, his heart thumped; he thought he was going to fall down and die. He was in love.

'_Cause everything that brought me here,_

_Well, now it all seems so clear._

_Baby, you're the one I've been dreamin' of._

Yuuri felt his heart just stop. Wolfram. Dreaming of him. He couldn't make himself understand it. Who would?

_Only you can take me sailin'_

_in your deepest eyes._

Wolfram smiled as he sang the words. He looked up at the black night sky and smiled before he closed his eyes again, sighing. How he loved the night! Even Yuuri knew that. Night was the for the two of them. It was the only time they weren't king and knight, or one boy and another. Night was when they were only themselves together, whatever that meant. Only recently had he begun to treasure them too -- the hushed conversations and in-jokes, the longing to hold and be held, the desire to move on to the next step into the exciting unknown. And above all, knowing they had one another if and when they made the jump.

_--bring me to my knees and make me cry._

_And no one's ever done this,_

_Everything was just a lie._

_And I know, yes I know..._

Wolfram stopped and Yuuri was shocked to the core as realization hit him. THIS was the melody he often heard in his dreams! This was what he'd heard time and again when he went between wakefulness and sleep! THIS was the lullaby that soothed him to slumber when the weight of the world all but crushed his shoulders. It had been this. It had been Wolfram. It had been him all along. He knew this song word for word. He could pick up from where Wolf left off, the same way he'll pick Wolfram up when he can't go on. From this point onwards, for now and for always.

_This is where it all begins,_

_So tell me it'll never end._

_I can't fool myself,_

_It's you and no one else._

It was Yuuri who sang the words Wolfram couldn't. His voice was heard clearly in the silence. They were the same words he had been wanting to say; the meaning of tonight's gathering. He took slow and deliberate steps towards his unique little family, gently pried the guitar out of Wolfram's arms and put it aside. Yuuri grinned at the dumbfounded look on Wolfram's face as he took Wolfram's hand and helped him up so he could envelop him in a tight hug. The young king sighed in contentment as he let Wolfram's scent fill his nostrils, his entire being. He smelled like marshmallows toasting in an open fire -- absolutely mouth-watering. He drew back reluctantly so he could look at the face he loved so much.

Wolfram rolled his eyes, his fierce glare belied by red cheeks. "Everyone is watching us. OUR LITTLE GIRL is watching us!" he hissed. Despite his protests, his arms moved to hold Yuuri just as desperately.

Yuuri nuzzled the side of Wolfram's neck and whispered "Let them see. You belong to me." into the blond's ear, making the latter shiver. Yuuri took it as a sign that Wolfram was cold and held him tighter. "Still cold?"

The former prince shook his head.

"Good. Neither am I. You're so hot," Yuuri teased.

"And you're stupid."

"Say what you want to say. You're mine."

"I know. I've always belonged to you," Wolfram whispered.

Yuuri held him at arm's length and gave him a quick kiss then drew back. But Wolfram followed. Soon, from all around the beach, the sound of cheering (however reluctant) could be heard.

_If I could wish upon tomorrow,_

_Tonight would never end._

_If you asked me, I would follow._

_But for now, I just pretend._

_If anyone can make me fall in love, You can…_

_Show me that good things_

_come to those who wait._

"Wolf, I… Will you… I mean, could we ---"

"Shut up and kiss me, wimp. Don't make me set you on fire."

A chuckle. "But Wolfram," Another kiss. "You already have."

Already-flushed skin grew even pinker. "I said shut up."

"Then marry me."

"Okay. Just this once."

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**Omake**

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Yuuri and Wolfram sat on the sand together, on the same beach where Yuuri had proposed to him the year before. They were married now, and they looked forward to the future. Tonight though, they just sat on the sand like any other couple, side by side.

The young king made a move as if to yawn and stretch, but let his arm fall around Wolfram's shoulders instead. Wolfram rolled his eyes at his husband as the latter pulled him closer. "And here I was thinking you'd manage to lose at least some of that wimpiness after a year," he said.

Yuuri grinned sheepishly at him. "Sorry. I just kind of –"

Wolfram pressed a finger to Yuuri's lips to shush him. "Shut up and… love me."

That was one order Yuuri didn't mind following. "Always."


End file.
